Position

Manager

Season Spotlight

Nationalities

1992/1993

92/93

93/94

94/95

95/96

96/97

97/98

98/99

99/00

00/01

01/02

02/03

03/04

04/05

05/06

06/07

07/08

08/09

09/10

10/11

11/12

12/13

13/14

14/15

15/16

16/17

17/18

18/19

19/20

1993/1994

Unibet’s Big Six Premier League Squad Study

The 2019/2020 season has been one of uncertainty and change for the Premier League. So we thought, what better time to take a deep dive into the Premier League's history books, to see how it's changed over the years?

We've collected together team and player data to map out the trends in player nationalities over the years - so jump right in and have a browse to see what we found!

For the first time since the 2015/16 season, there are more Big Six Premier League players from the UK, than from Europe. The number of British players has increased by 35% from last season, bringing the total number of British Big Six players up to 71, vs Europe’s 67. Is this a result of the Premier League’s Homegrown rule? Or is Brexit taking its toll on football already? Check out the rest of the stats below to see the Big Six’s changing teams.

Players From

The British Isles

Players From

Central Europe

BRITISH VS EUROPEAN PLAYERS IN THE BIG SIX

Percentage of players from the British Isles representing the Big Six per season

UK

EUROPE

Since the start of the Premier League in 1992, there has been a steady delcine in the number of British footballers playing for the Big Six, the number hitting an all-time low of 31% during the 2018-2019 season. And while British players have been on the decline, European players have been on the rise, slowly but steadily dominating the line up of the Big Six.

But this season has bucked the trend. 2019-2020 has seen an increase in the number of British Big Six players from 52 to a whopping 71, vs only 67 players from Europe. But why the sudden increase? Has the Premier League been more committed to signing players from their home-turf or are there just more, better, British players? And with Brexit looming, is the number of British players set to rise again?

A League of Nations

Along with an increase in British players, the number of English players playing for the Big Six in 2019-20 also increased. In fact, Spurs were the only Big Six team to have a lower number of English players than last year.

Number of English players representing each Big Six team per season

Arsenal

Chelsea

Liverpool

Manchester United

Manchester City

Tottenham Hotspur

But it was Man U who topped the charts, with 20 English players signed to them for the season – 10 more than Liverpool who came in second place with 10. While this might not come as a total surprise – Sir Alex Ferguson has famously relied on a strong English core to drive his success – the English heavy squad was kept alive by his successors until José Mourinho took to the helm in 2016 and cut the number of English players from 20, to 11. But on the rise again under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, English players are once again dominating Man U's squad. But will a squad of homegrown players challenge Liverpool for the top spot?

The Big Six... An International Affair

Since the Premier League was established, Man City have had players of 56 different nationalities pull on the sky blue kit - the most out of the Big Six. And, despite having the benefit of choosing from the largest pool of players, Man U have had the least, with only 40 different nationalities. But with Brexit on the horizon and freedom of movement changing - will these numbers stay fairly static over the next few seasons, with fewer European and international players with the potential to be signed?

where do all these European footballers come from?

In the early years of the Premier League, the arrival of Arsène Wenger proved to be the catalyst for a mass influx of French players into the Big Six. As rival teams looked to mirror Arsenal's transfer policy, the number of French players steadily rose, peaking at 22 during the 2007-08 season. But it wasn't only the French who were a noticeable force within the Big Six. Spanish players were also on the rise. Ever since Liverpool hired Rafa Benitez as manager in 2004, Spanish players were on the up and emboldened by Liverpool's success, Spanish players started to become a must have for the Big Six. But in recent years, French and Spanish players have seen a dip in popularity, with only 13 and 14 players respectively, playing for the Big Six this season. But it's not just French and Spanish players who have experienced a dip in popularity in the Big Six. Belgian and German players have also been on the decline, slowly giving way to more British players who are securing their spots in the League. Is this the uncertainty of Brexit at play again? Is the number of European players set to continue declining, or are the Big Six about to go on a European shopping spree, to increase their number of European signings before the rules change?

We had a look at the number of players from each region, playing for the Big Six since the Premier League began, to map out the trends in the arrival and departure of international players.

And what about the rest of the world?

While the number of players for each region has stayed either relatively steady or else been on an upwards trend, this has not been the case for Scandinavian players. After Denmark's 1992 Euros win and Sweden's appearance in the semi-finals the same year, Scandinavian players felt a boom in popularity. Premier League clubs started buying up Scandinavian players in the mid to late 90's and they remained a dominant force in the Big Six for around a decade. It wasn't until the start of the 2006/07 season that their number dropped off dramatically from 14 players to a mere 8, co-inciding with drop off in their world rankings.

Amount of players per region representing the Big Six per season

Europe

Scandinavia

North + Central America

South America

Caribbean

Africa

Asia

Australasia

And it seems that South America took up the mantle after that, a flood of South American players being signed to the Big Six in 2007, doubling their number from 9 to 18 players – clearly with every intention of staying on the scene.

So with Brexit on the horizon and a possible restriction to freedom of movement for European players, is there the possibility that the number of South American players will increase further, sticking to the same rules of transfer they know work? Could they start to dominate the Premier League while Europe tries to figure it's situation out?